Wing stands & drill bushing?

Joe Parish · Post by **Joe Parish** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:50 pm

Looking for input on wing stands. I am thinking of building the steel ones. rectangular tubing with angle welded to the bottom to bolt to the floor. Wondering about what height to set the support for the spar? I have heard chest height is good. I thought I would seek input from those that have been their and done that. I was also wondering were to buy the drill bushing to drill the hole in the elevator horns? Thanks for the input.

bruceh · Post by **bruceh** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:53 pm

I built mine on movable stands and was glad I did. Easy to move them around and work in limited space. Mount the spars higher than you think, otherwise you'll be laying on the floor trying to rivet the skins to the rear spar. I also had to crawl under the wing in order to work on the other side. With the matched hole construction you don't really need to use the stands to keep things aligned, but you do need to be able to get everything level and squared up before match drilling and riveting. You'll also need something in the middle do get the sag out of the wing.

I used Smitty's suggestion of using a brass hose barb as a drill bushing and that worked just fine. Just be sure to mount the rod end bearings to the outer limit on the plans so that the eventual hole in the horns is far enough away from the welds so that you can get the bolt some decent clearance.

Lorin Dueck · Post by **Lorin Dueck** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 6:21 pm

Joe -

I built a rigid (non-moveable) wing frame for my 9A with 4x4 vertical posts anchored to the floor and ceiling of my garage. This worked well - specifically when I had to support the center of the rear spar to prevent the assembly from sagging. Chest height worked great. My frame held both wings approximately 3 1/2 feet apart - which was more than enough room.

If you decide to build a moveable frame - remember that the wing skins protrude ~ 1/2" outboard of the last rib... so allow clearance between the vertical posts. Otherwise you will have to "notch" the horizontal supports.

Thx, Lorin
RV-9A SB (Fuselage)
N194LD

lancef53 · Post by **lancef53** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:25 pm

I have a set of steel wing stands that I made from pallet racking. You can have them, if you want. About 300 miles from Sioux Falls. I used them for my 8.

I can't remember what you are building, maybe they won't work?

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:49 am

I made steel one's as well, and mounted the spar shelf at 46" (stands were 48"). Worked find for me...

But that did mean I was on the floor to do the rear spar-

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:49 am

Oh, and you may already have the bushing thing figured out, but you can buy them from McMaster Carr cheap...

BSwayze · Post by **BSwayze** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:22 pm

I bought the bushing from McMaster-Carr, too. I used it just a few months ago to drill the emp bearing holes. I was very disappointed at the time to find out it wouldn't fit in the bearing! I measured it with a micrometer and found it to be exactly 250-thousands in diameter. EXACTLY 1/4". But there was no way it would go in the bearing. My AN4 1/4" bolts go in the bearing just fine, though. So I thought it must be very close. So I ended up chucking it in the drill press and turning it, and using some emery paper, honed it down a little at a time until it would slide just snugly into the bearing.

So in the end, it worked just fine!

Joe Parish · Post by **Joe Parish** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:17 pm

Thanks for the input guys!

Lance thanks for the offer but I could build them for $100. I love the idea of building steel wing stands but I am thinking if I did build it from wood I could reuse the wood for the wing cradle. The steel will run me $100 and not sure what I would use it for when I was done? Still undecided! Unfortunately I have some time before I will get my wings.